Multi-axis painting robots with a rotational atomizer as the application equipment can be used, for example, for painting automobile body parts. Such robots are known in the art (see, for example, World Intellectual Property Organization publication WO 2004/0374 36 A1). A piston meter, which supplies paint to a rotational atomizer, is mounted on the arm of the painting robot and in operation is connected to a high-voltage potential, so that the paint applied by the rotational atomizer is electrically charged. This results in good transfer efficiency with respect to electrically grounded vehicle body parts or other components to be painted. Further, a color changer, located on the same robot arm as the piston meter, is supplied through numerous color lines with paints of different colors. The color changer allows the selection of the desired color and supplies the piston meter with the appropriate paint. In operation, the color changer is connected to an electrical ground potential so that the numerous color lines do not have to be electrically insulated. The connection between the color changer and the piston meter is provided by an insulating hose that ensures electrical insulation between the color changer connected to ground potential, and the piston meter connected to high-voltage potential. The separation of electrical potential between the color changer and the piston meter is achieved by purging and cleaning the insulating hose.
There are disadvantages to this known painting robot. These disadvantages include the relatively long duration of the color change, which results in a slowing down of the painting process particularly with frequent color changes. These disadvantages also include the fact that the piston meter has to be filled again, even without a color change, when the entire charge capacity of the piston metering pump has been applied by the rotational atomizer. The recharging of the piston meter by the color changer is similarly relatively time-consuming, which slows down the painting process.